Sympathetic nervous system.

As you know, our nervous system consists of three main sections. The first, which includes the brain and spinal cord, is called the central nervous system. The second section, the peripheral nervous system, is an extensive network of numerous nerve fibers that “connect” the central nervous system with the periphery of the body. The third section is the vegetative nervous system. Being under the control of the higher part of the central nervous system – the cerebral cortex, the autonomic nervous system has nevertheless considerable “autonomy”. In particular, its functions almost do not obey the orders of our consciousness, and are not amenable to our willful efforts. This explains its other name – the autonomic nervous system. Regulating the activity of all internal organs (heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, endocrine glands), as well as metabolism, it plays a very important role in mobilizing the body.

The autonomic nervous system has two divisions – the sympathetic and the parasympathetic, which have the opposite effect on many processes in the body. Thus, the excitation of the sympathetic division leads to an increase in cardiac activity, an increase in the lumen of the bronchi, and an expansion of the pupils; excitation of the parasympathetic nervous system, on the contrary, reduces the contraction of the heart, narrows the lumen of the bronchi, reduces the pupils. But the most important thing (and this should be well remembered) is as follows. The sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system determines the degree of intensity of the body’s activity under conditions that require the strain of its forces. And the parasympathetic division, on the contrary, helps the body to restore the resources that were spent during this tension.

Thus, it is the sympathetic nervous system that plays the main role in mobilizing the body’s forces in the process of any intensive work that goes beyond the usual daily loads.

However, speaking of the important role of the sympathetic nervous system, it should be remembered that, although this system has a great autonomy and its functions in ordinary conditions are almost not amenable to our willpower, its activity still depends to a certain extent on the state of our consciousness. Therefore, mobilization can occur automatically, unconsciously, but it can also be a fully conscious process.
The main task that needs to be solved with the help of PMT is to teach those involved in consciously manage their mental state – in particular, consciously regulate the tone of their sympathetic nervous system and thus mobilize themselves for the efforts needed in this situation.

However, for successful activity it is not enough just to increase the tone of the sympathetic nervous system. This optimal for this situation, the tone must be able to rationally manage. Thus, in the process of mental preparation for important activities, a certain sequence must be observed. First, mobilize the forces of the body, raise the tone of the sympathetic nervous system to the optimal level (in other words, “lead” yourself to the desired arousal), and then send (organize) these forces to achieve a specific goal, consciously subordinate your arousal to yourself so that it can solve upcoming task.

However, it must be said that such a division into “mobilization” and “organization”, which arose at the initial stage of development of the mobilizing part of the BMT, later underwent some changes. Practice has shown: in many cases, to achieve a mobilized state, there is no need to first act on the sympathetic nervous system, in order to then specifically organize the “behavior” of the excited organism.

Numerous observations have led to the following conclusion: if the formulas are compiled accurately, they themselves raise the tone of the sympathetic nervous system to the desired level and at the same time “organize” the necessary mental and physical state of a person.

Under normal conditions, the activity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions of the autonomic nervous system is generally balanced: the sympathetic division is more active during the day, and at night, when the strength is restored, the functions of the parasympathetic division prevail.
When a person finds himself in such conditions where he is required an increased expenditure of energy (and especially high-intensity activity), the functions of the sympathetic nervous system immediately begin to sharply activate. First, the brain perceives some kind of exciting or emotiogenic (that is, generating emotions) signal. Then the impulses along the paravertebral chain of the sympathetic section are transmitted to all sympathetic paths leading to the internal organs, muscles, sense organs, and endocrine glands. As a result, the activity of these systems of the body is rapidly activated, the number of hormones in the blood increases, which play a large role in maintaining a high tone of the sympathetic nervous system (in particular, adrenaline and norepinephrine). In the body, “self-sustainingmechanism, which, by increasing the amount of adrenaline and norepinephrine, helps to maintain a high tone of the sympathetic nervous system.

These are the main changes occurring in the body in connection with the activation of the functions of this system.
1. The heart begins to shrink more and more.
2. The coronary vessels, through which food and oxygen are supplied to the heart muscle, expand.
3. The diameter of the airways in the lungs increases; breathing becomes more active, improves gas exchange.
4. Increases the performance of skeletal muscles, and it is those whose strength is needed in this situation.
5. In the non-working skeletal muscles, the blood vessels constrict, since these muscles do not need an increased supply of oxygen and nutrition.
6. The activity of the gastrointestinal tract is weakened, inhibited.
7. The vessels of the skin and abdominal cavity are narrowed, since neither the skin nor the abdominal organs play an essential role in the mobilization of the organism.
8. Smooth muscles of the skin are reduced, which leads to the appearance of “goose bumps”, raising the hair, the appearance of tingling sensations on the body and chills.
9. Pupils dilate; exacerbated vision and hearing; the functions of the vestibular apparatus are improved.
10. The metabolism is sharply activated, and therefore from the liver, where glucose reserves are always stored in the form of glycogen, this substance is released into the blood in large quantities.

The analysis of these changes allows us to conclude: an increase in the tone of the sympathetic nervous system contributes to an emergency restructuring of those body functions that are necessary for a person to gain high mobilization and overcome difficulties in a new, extreme situation that one or another excites him.

Changes occurring in a mobilized organism are subjectively expressed in the form of various emotional states. The combination of positive emotions is manifested in feelings of a surge of strength, self-confidence, inspiration.

Among the negative emotions, anxiety and fear are most frequent. These feelings, on the contrary, reduce the ability of a person to rationally use his strength. The opinion that fear can also mobilize for great efforts is quite reasonable. But not always with the help of it you can achieve the desired degree of mobilization, for fear is an emotion, as a rule, harmful. “Whipping up” a person with fear or anxiety can quite quickly lead to pathological changes in the body and, first of all, to disturbances in the nervous and cardiovascular systems.

It is necessary to learn how to consciously manage the diversity of emotions and, organizing them in the necessary way, push aside the negative, disturbing, putting in first place in your mind positive emotions, mobilizing.